Fisher Catholic 22 dressed

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

I know the roster has been smaller but 22 is getting dangerously low. Is this in part because of covid-19 or other reasons?

[formerfcfan]

70 boys in the school this year (they drew dead on the current sophomore class, who only has 9 boys.) 22 on the football team, 14 on the soccer team, 15 on the XC team and 7 on the golf team. 58/70 playing fall sports... their starting WR from last year had surgery and is missing this season, 3-year starting tailback is not playing his senior season due to racking up concussions.

The rest are in the band. The football numbers are just low because of the enrollment. They had 25 on the team last year: graduated 12 seniors, their star RB hung up the pads after last season for his health and two linemen transferred out.

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

Thanks. I knew you could answer this.

[formerfcfan]

Thanks. I knew you could answer this.

You’re welcome. I presume you’ll be at the game, Saturday?

The school and program has fought an uphill battle this past decade with enrollment & subsequently numbers. Many of the same problems TCC, Rosecrans and Notre Dame face, except FC has the specific problem of neither the primary feeder school nor any of the surrounding parishes having an interest in helping the enrollment situation. Of the five Diocesan high schools outside Columbus, it’s the only one that stands on an island. TCC & ND are combined 7-12 schools, Rosecrans now operates within a specified system called the “Catholic Schools of Zanesville” and NC is pretty tethered in to their two feeders. Meanwhile FC and the parents have to spend months trying to convince the families of Catholic eighth graders, entirely on their own time and dime, to send their kids to the school because the priest of the primary parish in Lancaster demonstrably has little motivation to ensure Catholic students are going there and not Lancaster/Bloom-Carroll/Fairfield Union.

They really have all the right pieces together (principal, AD and football coach) to get the school and program back to where it once was... they just don’t have the centralized, interconnected supports they need to get the bodies in the building. The Diocese, thanks to the new Bishop and superintendent, has recently taken a bigger hand in all the efforts necessary to promote an enrollment rebound (far greater in one year than the entire sum total of 15 years the Bishop Campbell/Sup. McQuaide era), but we’ll see how much it really amounts to under the current leadership of the grade school and its sponsoring parish of the past 10 years. One positive marker is there is finally a junior high football team after a seven year hiatus, the duration of which supposedly kept getting stymied by the grade school principal arguing “why do we need one? They can play for Lancaster.”

[greygoose]

I know the roster has been smaller but 22 is getting dangerously low. Is this in part because of covid-19 or other reasons?

Shoot for most SOC1 schools that's a year in and year out roster size.

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

I am doing the Northridge At Newark Catholic game Sat night.

[formerfcfan]

I am doing the Northridge At Newark Catholic game Sat night.

We play Miller on a Saturday week 6, if you have nothing planned.

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

I am doing the Northridge At Newark Catholic game Sat night.

We play Miller on a Saturday week 6, if you have nothing planned.

I am doing that game.

[RelaxGoat]

What is Fischer’s record? The OHSAA should step in and figure out the minimum number of players that it is safe to field a team with.

[formerfcfan]

What is Fischer’s record? The OHSAA should step in and figure out the minimum number of players that it is safe to field a team with.

0-3, but really they’re fine. 22 is hardly a number to really fret on.

[art_vandelay]

What is Fischer’s record? The OHSAA should step in and figure out the minimum number of players that it is safe to field a team with.

Didn't Notre Dame play an entire season with 16 players and like 7 of them freshmen a few years back? Same thing for Green a few years ago who made it to Week 10 before forfeiting when they only had like 13 kids left standing.

22 players doesn't seem like a problem to me. Green, Symmes Valley and East all around the same roster size this year. Small school football roster numbers not going to get much better going forward, so will be a yearly issue.*

[ReedsvilleEaglesFan]

You can only have 11 on the field at one time.

[RelaxGoat]

Hhmm.... injuries happen quite frequently in football. 16 was way to low. That is even considering how many of those are manipulated into playing.

[formerfcfan]

What is Fischer’s record? The OHSAA should step in and figure out the minimum number of players that it is safe to field a team with.

Didn't Notre Dame play an entire season with 16 players and like 7 of them freshmen a few years back? Same thing for Green a few years ago who made it to Week 10 before forfeiting when they only had like 13 kids left standing.

22 players doesn't seem like a problem to me. Green, Symmes Valley and East all around the same roster size this year. Small school football roster numbers not going to get much better going forward, so will be a yearly issue.*

Yeah. I don’t see 22 being an issue, either. Not when your schedule is full of teams with comparable roster size. Unlike 2011, when we played D2 Licking Heights, D5 Liberty Union, Grandview and West Jefferson who all had monster roster sizes by comparison. Ironman football is an identity that programs like FC have at least some opportunity to champion. Playoffs in ‘18 and ‘19 after a 12 year-drought (had 53 players in 2006), this territory is the new normal and one that FC has proven to be somewhat successful in (with the given waning years, see: 2020.)

[RelaxGoat]

What is Fischer’s record? The OHSAA should step in and figure out the minimum number of players that it is safe to field a team with.

Didn't Notre Dame play an entire season with 16 players and like 7 of them freshmen a few years back? Same thing for Green a few years ago who made it to Week 10 before forfeiting when they only had like 13 kids left standing.

22 players doesn't seem like a problem to me. Green, Symmes Valley and East all around the same roster size this year. Small school football roster numbers not going to get much better going forward, so will be a yearly issue.*

Yeah. I don’t see 22 being an issue, either. Not when your schedule is full of teams with comparable roster size. Unlike 2011, when we played D2 Licking Heights, D5 Liberty Union, Grandview and West Jefferson who all had monster roster sizes by comparison. Ironman football is an identity that programs like FC have at least some opportunity to champion. Playoffs in ‘18 and ‘19 after a 12 year-drought (had 53 players in 2006), this territory is the new normal and one that FC has proven to be somewhat successful in (with the given waning years, see: 2020.)

The problem may be in finding such schools and not having to travel. I definitely agree with you.

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

Staying on the low numbers,
Linden McKinley only had 21 dressed for their game Saturday.

[formerfcfan]

Staying on the low numbers,
Linden McKinley only had 21 dressed for their game Saturday.

How many did Briggs have?

I watched Briggs in scrimmage last year and they only had 19. West had 24.

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

Low 30's.

[formerfcfan]

Low 30's.

That’s a pleasant surprise.

This is just my opinion, but I think that part of the city is basically destined to not produce any competitive football unless Briggs merges into West or unless either cuts football and the other assumes the students that would play.

The Hilltop really has too many “opportunities” for kids to play ball at. If you’re good and have the means (almost go hand-in-hand) you’ll go to Ready. If you don’t have the means, and want a private school environment, Ready and GCC take EdChoice. If you don’t want to attend Columbus City Schools, it’s easy to rent into Southwestern City and enroll in to Franklin Heights. Then you have West and Briggs splitting kids.

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

Low 30's.

That’s a pleasant surprise.

This is just my opinion, but I think that part of the city is basically destined to not produce any competitive football unless Briggs merges into West or unless either cuts football and the other assumes the students that would play.

The Hilltop really has too many “opportunities” for kids to play ball at. If you’re good and have the means (almost go hand-in-hand) you’ll go to Ready. If you don’t have the means, and want a private school environment, Ready and GCC take EdChoice. If you don’t want to attend Columbus City Schools, it’s easy to rent into Southwestern City and enroll in to Franklin Heights. Then you have West and Briggs splitting kids.

It's tough for the coaches in the city, with all of the hoops they have to jump through just to keep their team on the field.